Vin Diesel quickly rose through the ranks of Hollywood after Steven Spielberg cast him in a small role in his war film Saving Private Ryan. But did you know Spielberg hired Diesel after admiring his work in a short that Diesel himself wrote and directed? The film, titled Multi-Facial, was shot in three days for just $3,000, and starred Diesel in a loosely autobiographical story about his struggles in the film industry. The short was widely acclaimed, and even played at the Cannes Film Festival. That’s just one of the facts featured in the newest episode of You Think You Know Movies!

Although Diesel is famous as the super-cool star of the Fast & Furious and xXx franchises, he’s also a major league dork. Diesel is a huge fan of Dungeons & Dragons; he contributed the foreword to a book on the game, and based his character in the film The Last Witch Hunter on his own D&D character. I guess you could say his personality is almost as multifaceted as a 12-sided die.

You Think You Know Movies? is a ScreenCrush original series that dives deep into the cinematic worlds of your favorite movies and freeze frames a few tidbits you might not have known. We’ve already tackled Star Wars, The Avengers and Spider-Man, but this time we’re living life a quarter mile at a time with some Vin Diesel facts. Watch more installments of ‘You Think You Know Movies?’ below and let us know in the comments what movies we should cover next.

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